Ashland Day 3 - Sara Onitsuka

Day three was another exhausting yet fabulous day. We needed to be in the lobby of the hotel and ready to go at 9:15am today, in order to drive to Helman Elementary School. We performed a bunch of pieces for the students, including some of our Shakespeare pieces. Since they all grew up in Ashland, a lot of them recognized the lyrics for "Double Double Toil and Trouble", which was really cute. They were all such outgoing kids, and were hardly hesitant about asking us questions after we performed. Our performance was crazy - we had so much fun, but got a little out of control (especially on the William Tell Overture)!

We had a short meeting/rehearsal after we got back to the hotel, and Mr. Eisemann used this mini piano to give us all of the pitches for our songs:

Then we had 4+ hours to do whatever we wanted! I went to lunch with Robbie, Cameron, Wyatt, Sophia, Claire, April, and Allison, to a place called Greenleaf.

There was another big group of Royal Blues members at the same restaurant, but sitting in a different area, and we saw Mr. Eisemann too. It's funny - even though the Blues split off, we pretty much ended up in the same place.

Everyone was raving about the "watering hole" in Lithia Park, so we all decided to hike over there. At first, we couldn't find it, but we did find another group of Blues chilling at the creek.  Finally, we found the watering hole, but there were tons of people there, so we left to find our own area.

It was sunny and nice out, and overall just perfect. A couple of us were being adventurous and explored up and down the creek. The water was really cold, but refreshing on such a hot day. Paul (who came later with Owen) and I completely submerged ourselves in the water for fun. It was really cold, but so worth it anyway.

Although the majority of us went to the creek/watering hole, some other activities included - chilling in the hotel room, doing homework, and in general, exploring the town a little more.

It already seemed like we had done a lot in a day, but it wasn't over yet! We changed back into our dresses and tuxes for the apex of our entire trip, and went to the park to eat pizza before walking to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. 

Once there, we had an outdoor concert for the people waiting to enter the Shakespeare Festival. There was actually a pretty sizable crowd, but I don't think our voices carried very much in the open air. Despite that, we made the best of it, and kept the William Tell Overture a little more under control (although still full of dancing).

We headed into the theater to watch The Tempest, which might have made more sense to me had I read the book already. Unfortunately, I didn't know anything about the play going in, so it was a little confusing. But the visual effects and overall aesthetics of the play were top-notch, and many of the actors were amazing.

It's now 1:30am, and I have to be ready by 8am in the lobby tomorrow (or should I say later today?). I'm so sad that this trip is already ending, but I've made so many great memories with people. I wish this trip could be longer, because it's paradise here. But it's been a great trip so far!